Bigger Than The New iPhone

Apple
is not an iPod company. It is not a smart phone company. It's not even a computer company. It's a software company. Which is why the iPhone OS 3.0 software update
Apple
released for the iPhone and iPod Touch this week--not the launch of the iPhone 3G S Friday--could be the most important technology event of the year.

Not that the iPhone 3G S is a terrible phone. It will be what the iPhone was always meant to be: a quick and capable multi-tool for the digital age. It can place a call, check your e-mail, help you find your way through traffic and entertain you in your spare time more snappily than ever. We got the basic idea, however, when
Apple
chief Steve Jobs unveiled the first model more than two years ago. If you want fresh looking hardware buy a Palm Pre (See "How Palm Designed The Pre").

The real breakthrough is what the phone's software will unlock for the developers creating third-party applications for the device. And if you've already bought your iPhone, it's free (or $10 if you've got an iPod Touch). Start with the App Store, which is now packed with more than 50,000 applications. Now add the ability for software developers to sell subscriptions that deliver premium content or additional levels for a game. "Basically when we look at the iPhone we don't see a mobile phone, we see a computing platform," says Shervin Pishevar, chief executive of Social Gaming Network (SGN).

For example, SGN's game "Agency Wars" allows players to compete by tapping away at the iPhone or while logged onto Facebook on their computer. They will even be able to use the iPhone's GPS capability to perform real-world missions and leave virtual booby traps for other players. Plenty of other smart phones have the GPS hardware to make that happen. Apple's software. however, allows developers to weave those capabilities into applications that knit virtual and real-world geographies together.

Now add the ability to turn the iPhone into a kind of skeleton key for all kinds of other devices. Apple will now let developers turn the iPhone into a control panel for practically any piece of electronics you can plug it into. Another radical feature: the ability to automatically find and sync up wirelessly with software running on another iPhone or iPod touch.

For example, SGN's jet fighter game, "F.A.S.T.," allows players to dogfight with nearby iPhone users over a Bluetooth connection thanks to this week's iPhone software update, whether or not you're buying the new iPhone. "When you have openness, you have the catalyst for expedited innovation from tens of thousands of developers," Pishevar says.

Of course the new software Apple is releasing for the iPhone and iPod Touch this week is packed with plenty of new touches that users won't have to wait for developers to exploit, such as the ability to copy-and-paste. Moreover, the iPhone 3G offers some new capabilities software makers will be quick to exploit, such as a better camera and a faster data connection. So if you've waited until now to buy an iPhone, congratulations. The one you can get on Friday for $199 is faster and more capable.

However, if you've already got an iPhone don't think you're going to be left out. Your little handset is about to get a lot more powerful over the next few months.